James H. Olthuis is an inter-disciplinary scholar in ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

, hermeneutics, philosophical theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, as well as a theorist and practitioner of psychotherapy

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...

 of a kind he calls "Relational psychotherapy."

Life

Olthuis studied under H. Evan Runner in philosophy at Calvin College

Calvin College

Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...

, Grand Rapids, Michigan; then in theology at Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Seminary

Calvin Theological Seminary is a seminary affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church in North America, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and closely tied to Calvin College, though each institution has its own board. Rev...

; and finally in philosophical ethics at VU University, Amsterdam, where he received his PhD under André Troost. Olthuis analyzed and critiqued the works of G. E. Moore, his dissertation being entitled Facts, Values, and Ethics: A confrontation with 20th Century British Moral Philosophy.

Positions held

Olthuis was a senior member at the Institute for Christian Studies

Institute for Christian Studies

The Institute for Christian Studies Toronto, Ontario is one of several unrelated institutions bearing that name.ICS Toronto is an independent graduate school of inter-disciplinary philosophy. At ICS, Junior Members and Senior members take part in shared learning through participatory seminars,...

, Toronto (1968–2004).

Works about Olthuis

• (2004) The Hermeneutics of Charity: Interpretation, Selfhood, and Postmodern Faith

See also

• deconstruction
  Deconstruction
  Deconstruction is a term introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply Martin Heidegger's concept of Destruktion or Abbau, to textual reading...
  
  
• deconstruction-and-religion
  Deconstruction-and-religion
  Those that take a deconstructive approach to religion identify closely with the work of Jacques Derrida, especially his work later in life. According to Slavoj Žižek, in the mid-to-late 1980s Derrida's work shifted from constituting a radical negative theology to being a form of Kantian idealism....
  
  
• postmodern Christianity
  Postmodern Christianity
  Postmodern Christianity is an outlook of Christianity that is closely associated with the body of writings known as postmodern philosophy. Although it is a relatively recent development in the Christian religion, some Christian postmodernists assert that their style of thought has an affinity with...
  
  
• radical orthodoxy
  Radical orthodoxy
  Radical Orthodoxy is Christian theological and philosophical school of thought which makes use of postmodern philosophy to reject the paradigm of modernity...
  
  
• weak theology